Dubai approached to host UK travel conferences
Dubai has received approaches from UK travel industry groups about hosting future conferences.
Ian Scott, new UK & Ireland director for the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: “Trade groups want to have their conferences in Dubai.
“It would give us the opportunity to showcase the product and believe it would be a really good thing for the UK travel industry. It is something we want to persue.”
He declined to identify which industry bodies had been in touch but said the state had the facilities to accommodate such events and a large amount of air capacity to cater for delegates from the UK regions. There are currently 145 flights a week offering 55,000 seats between the UK and Ireland and the Gulf state.
Hotel capacity is being raised next year with a further 5,500 rooms becoming available to accommodate all sizes of conferences. A dedicated Exhibition City featuring 19 exhibition halls and eight hotels is due to open in 2009.
Scott said he would be working closely with agents and operators to communicate the vast number of developments coming on stream, including the £2 billion Dubai Sports City due for completion next year and Dubailand – a theme park twice the size of Walt Disney World Resort in Florida – which is to open from over a period of eight years from 2010.
Up to 500 agents from the UK and Ireland are to visit Dubai next year on educational trips as part of an ongoing trade education and training process.
The UK and Ireland represents Dubai’s largest overseas source market with 700,000 visitors expected this year. That figure is expected to more than double by 2010 as the destination targets 15 million arrivals globally.
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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